Stellar romance, passionate writing. Loved it, I highly recommend this! What a refreshing take on the coming-of-age tale.

After Sideways Pike, an outcast lesbian witch, is invited to perform a spell at the popular girls' Halloween party, she finds herself swept into their friendship. The girls throw killer Halloween parties, curse boys and try to find Sideways a girlfriend, all while exploring their powers, learning about the dangers of being a witch and forming their own coven.

This book is an ode to teenage girls, to weirdos, to friendship. It’s feral and raw and everything I wanted it to be and more. This book has quickly become a new favourite of mine and I really want this review to do it justice. So, I’m going to do this a little differently. Below you will find an incomplete list of reasons to read The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clark. But first, let me introduce you to my witchy girls, the Scapegracers.

‘Fucking Christ, I was supposed to be Sideways the spooky lesbian weirdo. I had a fucking reputation to maintain, and it would not withstand a nickname like Lamby. Lamby. Goddamn it.’

Let’s start with Sideways Pike, our main character. I feel like this quote pretty accurately sums her up: a scary grump on the outside and softie on the inside. I absolutely adore Sideways and really enjoyed reading from her perspective. I found myself relating to her a lot, particularly her struggles with feeling like ‘enough’ and navigating friendships.

‘God, she must be made of silk. Lila Yates, the velveteen witch, who I desperately wanted to belong to, who I was ever so slightly afraid of.’

I fucking love Yates. She’s so soft, the baby of the group, she’s scared of horror films and takes any chance to cuddle or hold one of the girls’ hands and you just can’t help but love her. She is also fierce and clever and powerful because, news flash, these traits can and should coexist.

‘“Boys don’t touch my girls, I swear to God. I can be a fucking monster when I wanna be. I’m not good at a whole lot, but I’m spectacular at terrorizing people until they’ve literally lost it. I can ruin people like you wouldn’t believe. And I wanna wreck their sorry lives.”’

Daisy Brink. Daisy motherfucking Brink. This girl is so fucking fierce and reckless and will do anything for her girls. She wears friendship bracelets all the way up her arm, dots her i’s with hearts and will fuck you up with a smile on her face.

‘In that moment, illuminated by the neon lights, Jing looked like what a witch should look like. Menacing and lovely. She was pure and raw and radioactive. She was more vivid than anything else in the room.’

Jing is just incredible. She’s definitely the mum friend and cares about her friends so much. She’s also just overall fantastic and I am clearly running out of adjectives. She’s your typical beautiful popular girl who’s loved by everyone and gets away with everything (her and Daisy are street racers and I think that’s very sexy of them) but with nuance and development and feelings.

‘“Can girls not be soft and still be powerful?”’

This book celebrates female friendship, particularly that of teenage girls. These girls are all in, they’re so close and genuine and ‘mercilessly supportive’ of each other and it breaks my heart. It’s truly something special and something I want to see more of in fiction.  These girls, they’re soft and pretty, fierce and powerful. They’re caring, sensitive, protective; determined, ruthless, feral. They are strong female characters who embrace and celebrate their femininity or, in Sideways case, refuse to denounce it.

I really enjoyed the writing of this book. Sideways’ distinct voice and humour bring to life an elaborate narration saturated in darkness and occult references. And as you can see from some of the previous quotes, girls are described beautifully and with such reverence. This book is sapphic to its core. I also loved the spooky atmosphere and gorgeously gothic descriptions. This line from describing Sideways’ dads’ antiques store struck me as particularly beautiful: ‘If ball gowns had skeletons, the skeletons would look like our chandeliers’. Additionally, the way spellcasting scenes were written was enchanting and so immersive, and I especially loved the emphasis on the connection between the girls while casting. And now, it’s time for an incomplete list of some of the other things I loved:

THAT GORGEOUS COVER
To start this list off I want to encourage you to take a moment to simply admire the beauty of the cover. Isn’t it lovely?

lET’S GO LESBIANS!
Unless you’re a lesbian or quite aware of our issues, you may not realise how little the word lesbian is used, especially in YA books. So seeing the word ‘lesbian’ appear not only in the book itself but on the cover is amazing! It’s incredibly affirming seeing the word ‘lesbian’ used positively and having a lesbian main character who is proud of her sexuality. I also loved how Sideways’ sexuality wasn’t a huge deal, sexuality is not used to create conflict in this book, it simply is.

‘RICH WITH THE URGENCY OF FERAL YOUTH’
This. I couldn’t write this better myself.

‘SUBVERTS THE TROPE OF COMPETITIVE MEAN GIRLS’
The Scapegracers does this so fucking well. I really hate the competitive mean girls trope or when popular girls are vapid, vain and vindictive by default and I have been waiting for a book like this, that takes that trope and turns it on its head, for the unpoopular loner main character to say ‘fuck that, these girls are gorgeous, they’re fierce and I love them’.

FUN CHAPTER TITLES
I know, this might seem odd but sometimes I miss having fun Percy Jackson-esque chapter titles in my books as a little click bait teaser of what’s to come and this book delivered, albeit with its typical sarcasm and a touch of the occult (so, maybe not quite Percy Jackson-esque). My personal favourite being ‘If teens don’t have spirit, then what’s that smell?’

THE SCRATCH DAUGHTERS
Do you want to know why just the title of the sequel made me cry? (In my defense, I had just finished and was feeling a little raw). You should probably pick up The Scapegracers.

*eARC received in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley. All quotes taken from an ARC and may not reflect the final edition*

This was a fun and deliciously dark take on witches. I adored the POC and LGBTQ representation. And anything with witches is a win in my book. I liked the world building and the characters. I enjoyed how the author explores the stereotypical high school hierarchies and flips them on their heads. My only complaint is I wish the magic system was more fleshed out. A book about witches you would expect a better explanation on why and gets the privilege of being a magic wielder. Overall, The Scapegracers is a good young adult urban paranormal featuring witches which makes you reminisce such classics as The Craft.

3.5 stars

What I liked:
-how unapolagetically sapphic this book was, we have both lesbian and bi rep as well as the descriptions and general vibes just all feeling very sapphic (idk if that makes sense but if you've read the book i think you will know what talking about)
-how the popular characters weren't just portayed as 'bitchy' and actually had (at somewhat) personalities and how in this book it wasn't bad to be sexy/feminine
-this book kind of felt like mean girls but much gayer and much more witchy
-i liked the idea of the sisterhood in this book, i'm not sure the execution was totally there but i believe it is the authors debut book so i'm willing to forgive that!! i liked how sideways was slowly making more friends and having a support system. 
-i liked the slice of life elements in this book, especially sideways relationship with her dads, i thought that was really sweet!!!
-mr scratch!!!!! i always a sucker for talking spirits/animals/inanimate objects and honestly i'm excited to pick up the sequel despite not totally loving this one just for him haha

What I didn't like:
-the writing, this was my main issue with the book that kept me from giving it a higher rating, i can't put my finger on exactly what i didn't like about it but it just felt like things didn't quite flow and sometimes it would seem like things would suddenly jump around (not in terms of plot but just in terms of focus) and sometimes the story would just get lost 
-i liked the characters generally but sometimes they just felt a bit too disjointed (i think this might have been the fault of the writing) 
-the main (?) relationship, i feel bad critising this because i alwasy want more wlw rep in books but i was shipping sideways way more with literally any of her 3 friends than with madeline, they literally had 2 interactions and it just felt a little off to me, i guess it could have done with a bit more development in order to SPOILER feel the impact of the betrayal at the end.

Witches finding magic and each other. It’s a good plot, whilst I did see the end before it happened I’m still looking forward to the next book. It gave me “the craft” vibes. The writing style was a tad too descriptive in places which I found myself not drawn in to, which is why this is a four star for me. I think I’m in love with the dads, tho they seem too trusting on one occasion that, as a parent, I would not have let slide past as unchecked as they did. However overall this is an enjoyable read that is worth the effort. Reviewed after receiving an I corrected proof. Many thanks!!

Sadly this ended up being a DNF only because it ended up being not a book for me. It was a little complicated and confusing to read but I feel like that the way it was suppose to be. Sometimes me and books don't mesh that well and this just happens to be one of those this time.

I love a good teen witch. But a sapphic teen witch as cool as Sideways? I am swooning. I loved this book about female bonds and a lesbian lead character that was so freaking cool. I was absorbed by her personality almost immediately. The first chapter of this book seemed a bit strange at first and then I fell head first into the world.

"𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙮, 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨. 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙗𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙬𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙣. 𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙙𝙢𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙮, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙙."
⠀
I finally finished reading THE SCAPEGRACERS by Hannah Abigail Clarke and LOVED it.⠀
I've been wanting to read a novel with witches for a while now and I wasn't disappointed by this one. ⠀
Our Scapegracers are discovering their predisposition for witchcraft after an evening that will change their lives forever: stalked by witchfinders who are after their magic, they will have to assume their powers and help each other despite their difference. ⠀
The perfect novel to put me in the spirit of autumn and Halloween. ⠀
I particularly liked the fact that the feminine/lesbian characters are portrayed here as powerful and feared beings and that magic has a conscience of its own. ⠀
The sequel promises to be full of surprises and twists. ⠀
⠀
Thank you Netgalley and Erewhon books for sending me this enchanting and mesmerizing arcbook.⠀

Thank you Netgalley and Erewhon Books for an E-arc in exchange for an honest review.

First off let me say, had this book came out when I was around the age group of the girls, or even near the intended audience, I would have been obsessed with this book. Magic, queer girls, small bits of scary, it is by far a perfect blend for what I wanted years ago. 

This book probably has one of my favorite girl group relationships. Something I wish we got in The Craft. Seeing girls come together to and adore one another, protect each other, laugh and joke without making them end up jealous of one another? Seeing friendships like the girls in The Scapegracers just made me ache for a feeling like that. Add in the delicate moments where the girls have a heart to heart. Or the scenes where they're just comfortably leaning into another and helping support? My heart swelled so hard.

I absolutely loved how magic was described. The words used and phrases to describe the way magic flowed sent small thrills over my spine, and each time they were going to cast, I found myself excited. This said, I do wish we could have seen how Yates, Jing and Daisy's own magic worked. We see one instance of magic with the other girls happen, yet it left it so open ended on such a small thing, I really hope we see what results of it in the sequel. 

My only grip was that I felt there was only the plot danger in two scenes. Which could totally be my own fault, I did go in expecting more threats than just what we got. I just wanted to see more danger in a book where teen girls are learning magic and the promise of witch hunters is involved. Then was bummed when we only got the scenes we were given. Hoping this becomes more dangerous as the series continues.

Thank you Netgalley and Erewhon Books for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

If you love witchy vibes and LGBT angst, You'll enjoy The Scapegracers. It is also full of girl power and showing teenage girls working together instead of tearing each other apart. There are those lingering stereotypes of the pretty, popular girls though and the characters could use more complexity.  The writing is a little metaphor heavy and can be slow, but if you stick with it you won't be disappointed. All in all, a decent read with much-needed representation and girl power.

The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke tells the story of Sideways, described in the publisher's synopsis as an outcast teenage lesbian witch who finds her coven hidden amongst the popular girls in her school, and performs some seriously badass magic in the process. 
Sideways Pike has always been on the outside of things at her local school, until the night she is hired by three of the most popular girls at her school  to perform some magic at a Halloween party , and things go much further than she ever planned.  It turns out that the girls are hiding some magic of their own, and soon the four begin to form an unlikely, but ferocious friendship where they have each other's backs and will protect each other from threats ranging from sleazy dudebros to modern day witch hunters. 
This book has lots of queer rep , and it is an integral part of the story. The characters are well developed and I loved their banter and how they interacted with each other. I think it is a great portrayal of female friendship in all its complexity, and how important and difficult to form those relationships can be. The writing style I think will be divisive, I loved it, and I think the author has a wonderful way with words, but I think some readers may find it overly convoluted. The pacing of the story can feel quite slow at times but it does pick up as it moves towards the end, and I have to warn prospective readers that this book is not neatly wrapped up, instead you will be left impatiently waiting for the next book to see where the story is headed next. This was actually the one thing that frustrated me about the book, the whole thing felt more like a (very) long set up to a bigger story, one that we only see glimpses of in this book.  That being said, I am definitely intrigued to see where this story is going next, I enjoy the company of the coven and love the magic system that the author has introduced. This is a series opener with a lot of potential. 
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

I savored this novel like I haven't done in a long while. While the pacing could've used some improvement, I absolutely fell in love with the characters, dark vibes, and story. An original and very grounded look at teenage witches and casual queerness.

Overall, I really enjoyed this! I wish that this had been something accessible to me as a teenage reader. Younger me would have found a lot of solace in this! Who wouldn't want to form super close bonds with a group of girls and just be freaking witches together and start a coven? What the heck? YES!

This was so <b>cool.</b> Dark, witchy and super gay - I adored it. 

The most special part of this book for me was the characters. They were all rough around the edges and at first, I feared that they were all just going to be stereotypes or tropes, but the author did a great job of diversifying them from each other and adding layers to them. I love that their friendships felt real. The way they interact with one another is reminiscent of how I would interact with some of my own friends, and I loved that. Despite the characters all being rough around the edges, they ultimately would do anything to help each other and are extremely loyal. I adore the found family trope, so this was wonderful to see, especially in a group of teenage girls. 

Also, give me a book about books and I'm a super happy camper. I loved that the magic in this book gave the actual spell books themselves personalities and entities. I have to say, I wanted more out of the magic system, and I wanted to learn more about it, but I'm going to assume that this will be explored further in the rest of the series. 

I did struggle with getting into the pacing and the writing style at times, especially in the beginning, but it didn't take away from my overall enjoyment.

In the end, this first book did it's job and got me very interested in reading further installments! I'm excited to see what happens to these cheeky girls.

this book honestly had me at teenage lesbian witch and i loved it so much!!! the friendship!!! the magic!!! the atmosphere!!! everything is just so good!!

let me start of by talking about the friendship because it's one of my favorite things about this book!! is there something anything better than a friendship beginning with a hexing of douchebag who hurt one of them??? I THINK NOT. they also would do anything for each other??? their friendship gets so strong so fast and IM HERE FOR IT. there was this part at a party when all of them dressed up as girls from a horror movie with the hoods the color of their magic and it was so powerful i love it so much

the magic itself is nothing special just sigils and incantations but i loved every scene when they practiced a spell or made a hex or the ones at the party!!! i just love how sideways, our mc talks about it and how she feels so connected with it and it's soo good!!! the magic books are so INTERESTING they literally feel and see and can communicate with the reader and they're just SO sassy i love it!

there's also this creature called Mr.Scratch AND HE'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE EVER HE DESERVES THE WORLD

the writing takes a bit to get used to but once you do YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO STOP!! the story just pulls you in and suddenly it's over and you don't know what to do with your life because you need the sequel RIGHT NOW!!

THE SCAPEGRACERS is the witchy contemporary fantasy of fall 2020! It’s got an utterly raw, authentic teenage voice that just rips you to the bone, and a cast of fantastic, prickly, utterly real teen girls. Clarke has created an incredible world with visceral magic system, and a plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat till the very last page—and leaves you desperately wanting more. I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next installment, and I know that Sideways Pike will be haunting my brain for a long time to come.

Wow. 
Wow.
WOW.

I just finished this book mere minutes ago and I'm feeling all the feels.

I read most of the book in one go and I wish there was more. It can't end so suddenly no, no. 

I understand that it's a trilogy (yay!) so this book was really a set up for the following two. That's okay, but I still wish a little more happened (a lot happened but you know what I mean). HOW WILL I SURVIVE TILL BOOK 2 HUH? 

Let's get into it. 
Sideways (what a cool name, if I was from an English speaking country I totally would've chosen a name like that for myself too, just saying, it's brilliant) is a lesbian witch plagued by loads of insecurities about herself and the friendship she formes with former mean girls - turned coven sisters, Jing, Daisy and Yates. Her dads own an antiquity store and they're absolutely adorable together (even though they don't show up that much, hopefully we'll see more of them in later books). 

I loved the friendship, the spellcasting and even the witch hunters. I found it hard to dislike anyone except you-know-who (name starts with the letter M) and that rarely happens so A+. 

In some scenes I did get the feeling that Sideways was trying a tad bit too hard to be cool when it wasn't needed, it's not a huge annoyance though. 

Certain moments made me laugh and perhaps I'll fish them out another day and edit them into my review so I don't forget. 

Honourable mention: the summers in Montenegro line. Made me think back to my own summers there as a kid. 

Honourable mention #2: Mr Scratch. I love him. He's the best. More of him please. Loads more. 

*Huge thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Witches, sisterhood but not enough plot to make it interesting.

Okay, that might sound harsh, but I felt like nothing really happened in this book, except for the last 4 chapters or so. And that's not to say nothing actually happens. A lot happens, I just don't know why it happens, and that to me is the biggest failing of this book. So many things and events are introduced and I expect they will be dealt with in later books (I believe it will be a trilogy), but if there isn't some form of immediate pay off in book one, it really feels as if you're wasting your time. It's a very long set up for a sequel.

Things I liked:
- The magic: it seems electric and full of power and potential
- Some of the descriptions are quite beautiful and it's very easy to picture the scenes
- The first part with deers and kidnapping. Great suspense and a thrilling mystery. If the whole book had keep it  up like that, it could haven been great.
 
Things I wasn't keen on:
- The lack of plot. I frequently found myself thinking 'where is this going?' and 'but why?', and that shouldn't happen to a level it does here.
- Whorled. Do you ever notice a word and then it just keeps popping up? (That's probably just me, and I think I was just annoyed)
- I didn't connect with any of the characters, I kept forgetting who was who and what they looked like. To me, they were indistinguishable, maybe apart from Jing and Sideways.

Sadly not the empowering and suspenseful read I had hoped for, but I see a lot of great reviews, so if you're into witches give it a go, just be prepared for the first volume in a trilogy and not a standalone book.

ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting and a quick escapist read.      
         
An intriguing plot with somewhat dull character development, yet all together a decent story that's fun!

I appreciate having had an opportunity to read and review this book. The appeal of this particular book was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review I prefer simply to advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.

Honestly, once I'd read the blurb and saw "As a witch, lesbian, and lifelong outsider" I was incredibly excited about this story. The relationships, despite having magical connotations, are so realistic and relatable. The author shows the truth and complexity in regard to human adolescent friendships.